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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25950925">What Friends Are For</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minnow_53/pseuds/Minnow_53'>Minnow_53</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluffy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Romantic Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:35:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,174</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25950925</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minnow_53/pseuds/Minnow_53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Girls are rubbish, so Remus and Sirius are glad they're such good friends.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sirius Black/Remus Lupin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>83</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>What Friends Are For</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>First published on LiveJournal 22/4/05.  Thanks to Asterie for the beta.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There were hundreds of girls at Hogwarts, or so it seemed.  There were girls in the Great Hall, and girls in the Charms classroom, and girls in the Gryffindor common room.</p><p>Some of the girls were blonde, more of them were dark, and there were four or five redheads, not all with Weasley or Prewett blood.  One of the redheads was Head Girl, Lily Evans, who had finally begun to notice that James Potter, Head Boy, was not quite as arrogant as she’d once thought.  </p><p>As Seventh Year proceeded, many of the students started to pair off: that was one of the purposes of Hogwarts, after all. Wizards tended to marry witches, and the sooner they got together and started conceiving new witches and wizards, the better.</p><p>Peter Pettigrew had a rather sweet little Sixth Year girlfriend called Penny, who got on with all the Marauders and had a bit of a crush on Sirius, though of course Peter never knew that.</p><p>James and Lily had started to hit it off big time, and were now dating steadily.</p><p>Sirius, who could have any girl he wanted, had seven, one for every day of the week.  He went out with them in strict rotation, and they were all wildly jealous of each other.</p><p>Remus was a little wary of getting too close to a girl, for obvious reasons.  But one Ravenclaw gazed at him so limpidly, and with such naked longing, that he simply had to ask her out, though he never considered they could be more than friends.  Her name was Cassie, and she was one of the blondes.</p><p>Sometimes, he confided in the others, he fantasised about her becoming an illegal Animagus, like them.  A lemur would be fun, he thought, though why a lemur he couldn’t have said.  Sirius privately thought a squirrel or a chipmunk: something that chattered, because Cassie did chatter so.</p><p>Until December, the Marauders were all apparently happy in Seventh Year, with their girls and their work and the occasional prank or retaliatory move toward Snivellus. But as the end of term approached, certain things started to unravel.</p><p>Sirius began to feel a bit left out, now James and Lily were so close.  He and James never had the sort of old, easy conversations they’d had before, about pranks and how to get Lily Evans.  Now Lily had been got, Sirius’s life felt a bit empty, so he decided to fill the gap by talking to his many girlfriends the way he’d been used to talking to his friends.  He had an idea that James discussed sport, flying and broomstick maintenance with Lily, and she never seemed to mind.</p><p>On Monday, he talked to Dulcie about Quidditch, and Dulcie looked vague and distant, as if her mind were on something completely different.  Sirius wasn’t used to being ignored, so he got mad and decided to break up with her.</p><p>On Tuesday, he tried to talk to Melanie about that day’s Transfiguration lesson, but Melanie kept snuggling up to him and being soppy and rather disgusting, and finally asked, ‘Do you love me, Sirius?’</p><p>On Wednesday, two girlfriends down, he looked forward to seeing Jenny.  Jenny was a tomboy, and had once made some interesting suggestions about transforming all the Slytherin ties and badges into Gryffindor ones.  Perhaps he’d only go out with Jenny in future, he resolved.</p><p>But something had gone wrong with Jenny. She tried to take his hand, in front of his friends, as they sat on the comfy, battered old sofa in the common room.  Then, she moved very close to him, and started fluttering her eyelashes and talking in an affected baby voice.</p><p>Sirius felt slightly sick.</p><p>By Sunday night, he’d split up with every single one of his girlfriends.  He sat at dinner, wondering gloomily whether he could be bothered to go to the trouble of getting seven more, if all they could do was not listen to you, or go soppy, or burst into tears and say you were ignoring them.</p><p>He put his problem to Remus, who was sitting next to him attacking a huge wedge of apple pie with custard and cream.  ‘You and Cassie.  Do you discuss things with her?’</p><p>‘Like what?’ Remus said, with his mouth quite full.</p><p>‘Well…things.  Like that Arithmancy homework, with the times of the Owl Post.’</p><p>‘What did you get?’ asked Remus with interest, putting down his spoon and forgetting all about his rapidly-cooling pie.</p><p>‘Six.  Because you have to factor in that sick owl.’</p><p>‘Not always.  He’s sometimes sent to the house next door.  Which makes it four, or even four and a quarter.’</p><p>‘Mine still comes out as six.’</p><p>Remus gathered together a few unused knives and forks, and soon they were both absorbed in recreating the Owl Post problem with cutlery, and fascinated to find that you could get two different answers, as they had, and both answers were right.  After that, they had a go at Transfiguring the cutlery into owls, with some success, as three new owls were tagged at Hogwarts that night.  Sirius gathered up the loose feathers with a swish of his wand, and Remus created new knives and forks to replace the ones that were now on perches in the Owlery, eating dead mice.  </p><p>When they finally went up to the common room, after the house elves clearing the tables started making ‘time to go now’ noises, Sirius reflected that he hadn’t had such a pleasant evening for ages, not since James and Lily started going out together.  Well, actually, not since before then, when Remus first asked Cassie out.  In fact, the last evening he could remember enjoying so much was when he and the others were lying on their stomachs on their beds in the dorm, legs in the air, advising Remus on what he should wear for his first date the next day, and how he should act.  </p><p>The date took place on the Saturday of the Hogsmeade fair.  Remus had borrowed James’s best robes, and acted like a perfect gentleman, allowing Cassie her choice of stuffed toys from the shooting range.  He’d ignored Sirius and Peter’s catcalls as he bought Cassie the stickiest, pinkest cloud of candyfloss in wizarding history.</p><p>It was at the fair, in fact, that James and Lily paired up, and Peter had started trailing after Penny, and a bored Sirius had started accumulating girlfriends that he didn’t really like.  And it wasn’t just James he’d missed talking to but Remus, and perhaps even Peter a little bit.</p><p>Growing up wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, he decided.</p><p>*</p><p>Later, it was just Sirius and Remus in the dorm, as the other two were still out with their girlfriends.  While they were getting ready for bed, Sirius asked, ‘So do you talk to Cassie about Arithmancy problems?’</p><p>‘Not really,’ said Remus, suddenly looking shifty and avoiding Sirius’s eye.  ‘She’s a <i>girl</i>, isn’t she?  You know what they are.  They want to talk about romance and stuff. Or they just ramble on and on about – I wouldn’t really know, ’cause it’s quite hard to listen sometimes.  Or they’re sick on the Ferris wheel.’</p><p>Sirius had forgotten that part of Remus’s first date.  It was the candyfloss, no doubt.  He smiled at the memory. ‘Aren’t you in love with her, then?’</p><p>‘No!’ Remus said, so vehemently that Sirius raised an eyebrow and stared at him.</p><p>‘You quite sure, Moony?’</p><p>‘Not funny.’  Remus threw James’s pillow at Sirius, who threw Peter’s back at him, and a few minutes later they were both covered with feathers, and the dorm looked as if there’d been a blizzard in there. </p><p>‘Feathers are obviously the theme of the day,’ Sirius remarked, brushing himself down. ‘This one’ll make a nice quill.  Moony, it’s suddenly hit me.  You’re here.’</p><p>‘Where else would I be?’</p><p>‘It’s not the full moon, we haven’t got any tests or exams tomorrow, you’re not rushing to finish your Divination homework - so why aren’t you out with Cassie?’</p><p>‘Broke up with her,’ Remus mumbled, through a mouthful of feathers.  ‘What’s the point? I couldn’t tell her about the werewolf thing, and she was looking at me soulfully and sighing…  I hate girls, really.’</p><p>‘They’re great to shag, though,’ Sirius objected.  He wasn’t quite sure why he said that: he felt it was expected of him in this masculine conversation between peers.</p><p>‘Well, I wouldn’t know.’</p><p>‘Neither would I,’ admitted Sirius, relieved. ‘I think you have to fall down and worship them first, and frankly I didn’t even like them that much. Not any of them.’</p><p>‘You probably needn’t have worried,’ Remus said. ‘I think the girls would want to shag you anyway.’</p><p>‘You’d be surprised,’ said Sirius darkly.  ‘I’ve only ever kissed Melanie, and that was because she came right up close and made me.’ </p><p>He didn’t tell Remus that the memory still made him shudder, because Melanie had been sloppy, her mouth wet and slick with lipstick.  The taste of the lipstick was also revolting: a synthetic strawberry flavour, straight off a Muggle assembly line in the dark reaches of northern England.  Ugh, anyway.</p><p>‘I kissed Cassie a few times, but I didn’t really want to take it any further.  What’s the point?  I can’t marry her or anything.’</p><p>‘You don’t have to be married.’ Sirius sniggered.  ‘Prongs and Evans are hardly married, and look at them. Snogging all over the place!’</p><p>‘D’you think they’re sleeping together?’ Remus asked.  </p><p>‘James hasn’t mentioned anything to me about it if they are,’ Sirius said.  That hurt a bit too: he missed the days when James had kept him up to date on the minutest details of his attempts to win Lily.  Oh, he’d got fed up and exasperated then, but that was before he knew his days as James’s main confidant were going to end. </p><p>He reflected on the whole love thing later, after lights-out, when all four boys were back in the dorm, in bed and ostensibly asleep.  It seemed incongruous to invest a simple bodily need with all that paraphernalia, he mused.  Life would be so much simpler without romance and hearts and stupid, stupid girls.</p><p>*</p><p>He and Remus continued their interesting discussions the following morning, with talk of the threats of war that were beginning to penetrate even Hogwarts.  Sirius stole James’s <i>Daily Prophet</i> while James was busy gazing at Lily with a strangely ghastly, moonstruck look on his face.</p><p>‘Another family disappeared this morning,’ he announced.  ‘This paper’s so annoying though, it won’t even mention the person who’s doing all the killing. It's Voldemort, of course.’  He spooned a bit of marmalade on to his toast.  </p><p>Peter dropped his knife with a clatter, his face white.  ‘You mustn’t say that, Padfoot!’ he gasped.  ‘You-Know-Who…my Mum says you’re never to talk about him.’</p><p>‘If you don’t name him, you’ll just get more and more frightened of him,’ Sirius said.  ‘I can’t wait to leave school and go out there and fight him.  Voldemort, that is.’  He put a slight emphasis on the name, and watched Peter carefully, to make sure he cringed.  Several other Gryffindors frowned at him.</p><p>‘You'd better stop saying it in front of them,’ Remus whispered.  ‘No need to remind them you’re a Black.’</p><p>‘But I’m not!  Not any more!’</p><p>‘<i>We</i> know that.  They don’t.  You can say it in front of me, if you like, and I’ll say it back.  I’m not scared of Voldemort, or his Death Eaters.  No matter how powerful they are.’</p><p>One of Sirius’s ex-girlfriends pushed her porridge away half-eaten, and burst into tears.</p><p>Sirius and Remus shared a sympathetic look, that said, ‘Girls! Trust them to overreact to the slightest thing.’</p><p>Sirius at least lowered his voice in deference to her sobs.  ‘Half the bloody Slytherins can’t wait to go and join him.  Bet Snivellus will be the first off the mark.  The Dark Mark, that is.’  He gave his slightly barky laugh.</p><p>Remus sighed.  ‘That’s a bit unfair, isn’t it?  He’s a vile, greasy git but he’s quite intelligent.  He’s good at Potions, anyway.  And Care of Magical Creatures.  Remember the big Flobberworm fight?’</p><p>He and Sirius smiled reminiscently.  The big fight had occurred a couple of months after the Prank, when Snape had unwisely hissed at Remus that he ought to be the subject of the lesson, not taking it.  Though many, many Flobberworms had perished on that occasion, even Remus had felt it was worth it to see Snivellus covered in the creatures, spitting them out of his mouth, the twisted, sneering mouth that uttered so many hateful words and hexes.</p><p>‘No, it’s not unfair.  I’ll bet you, Moony.   Ten Galleons.’</p><p>‘I haven’t got ten Galleons, Padfoot!’</p><p>Sirius put a reassuring hand on Remus’s shoulder. ‘You can pay me when you have it.’</p><p>Remus didn’t squirm or shrug Sirius’s hand away.  ‘You’re on, then. I’ll win, anyway.’</p><p>That, Sirius reflected, was exactly the sort of thing he’d always liked about Remus.  Though Remus had obviously been secretive about the werewolf thing, he was generally fairly straightforward.  Well, guys were.  No messing about with ‘Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to owe you money, and I’ll pay you back at once.’  And no flinching.  Here he was with his hand on Remus’s shoulder, touching one of his friends casually and happily, and he didn’t even have to think about it.  And Remus was perfectly fine with that; in fact, he seemed pleased at the simple act of male bonding.  </p><p>*</p><p>During Divination on Tuesday, Remus made a note appear in Sirius’s crystal ball.  ‘Who’s the new date for today, then?’</p><p>Sirius waved his wand, and Remus’s tea leaves spelt out, ‘Nobody.’</p><p>‘Let’s go and watch James’s Quidditch practice, then,’ the Knave of Hearts suggested, as Sirius turned to his pack of fortune-telling cards.</p><p>‘Fine,’ the tea leaves replied.</p><p>It was a chilly December evening, so they wore their winter cloaks as they made their way down to the Quidditch stands.  Remus, who hated the cold, shivered, but unlike a girl he didn’t make a silly fuss, Sirius noted, or expect his hand to be held and rubbed and blown on, though he wouldn’t really have minded rubbing Remus’s hands, in a purely blokeish sort of way.   His own hands were always warm, a family trait that dated from a fairy’s christening gift to some medieval Black baby. </p><p>‘So, haven’t you picked the new harem yet, then?’ Remus asked, as James looped the loop several times on his broomstick for the benefit of Lily, who was sitting with Peter a few rows in front of the boys.  Lily wore a pair of sturdy boots lined with rabbit fur, Sirius noted approvingly.  He wondered if Remus would be offended if he bought him a pair of fur-lined boots.  Probably not, because Remus had the sense to understand the difference between friendship and charity.</p><p>‘I’m giving the girls a break for a while,’ Sirius said.  He realised with a shock that he hadn’t once looked at a girl since his and Remus’s pleasant Sunday evening, or even thought about girls, except in a faintly derogatory way.  ‘I think I’ll wait till after Christmas.  How about you?  Any replacement for Cassie yet?’</p><p>‘No.  I think I’ll leave it for a bit too.  No hurry, is there?’</p><p>‘None at all.’</p><p>The practice started warming up dramatically at that moment, when the pretty Gryffindor Seeker, a petite Fourth Year, fell off her broom and was rescued by James coming up from one of his loops.  Lily gasped, and rushed on to the pitch to check they were all right.  Peter rushed after her; he hated being left out of James’s life as much as Sirius did, but compensated by being as close to James as he possibly could at any moment when James wasn’t exclusively occupied with Lily.</p><p>Sirius and Remus watched dispassionately.</p><p>‘Shouldn’t have girls on the team.  They always do stupid things,’ Sirius said.</p><p>‘That’s not true, Padfoot.  She’s a really excellent Seeker.’</p><p>‘I suppose.  Just feeling a bit sour with girls at the moment.’</p><p>It was Remus’s turn to put his arm comfortingly round his friend.  ‘Don’t worry. You said it.  Who needs ’em?’</p><p>‘Except for shagging,’ Sirius said, once again.  He didn’t know why he kept mentioning it.  He hoped Remus hadn’t noticed.</p><p>‘Well, I was thinking about that.  After what you said on Sunday night.  And you don’t need girls to get off anyway, do you?  Much better on your own.  Not that I’d know.’</p><p>‘Me neither.  But you’re probably right.’</p><p>Remus didn’t remove his arm from Sirius’s shoulders for a while, and they sat in companionable silence, until suddenly both of them realised with a shock that the Quidditch players had packed up and were going in.  Slightly alarmed at having tuned out so much of the practice, Sirius reluctantly got up and said, ‘Well, better be getting to bed then. Okay?’</p><p>‘You were miles away then, Padfoot.’</p><p>Again, Sirius noted with approval that Remus wasn’t nagging him to reveal what he’d been thinking about, the way a girl would.  In fact, as he recalled with a bit of a shock, he’d been pondering what Remus said, about getting off being better on your own.  He had a feeling that Remus mightn’t be quite right about that, actually, and told him so.  </p><p>He also thought, as he explained to Remus later, that perhaps you didn’t have to involve girls at all, not always.  Of course, girls were the end point of the exercise, but it probably didn’t make any odds if you just wanted to find out what it would be like with another person. 'Like you and me.  Hypothetically, of course.'</p><p>Remus looked a bit sceptical.  ‘I still don’t see how doing it with another person would make that much difference.’</p><p>They agreed to disagree, as good friends do, and went to bed at peace with each other and with the world.   </p><p>*</p><p>Remus and Sirius were inseparable for the rest of the term; they sat in lessons together and discussed work and wizarding politics and even set up a prank on their own, astounding the Slytherins with worms instead of spaghetti one dinnertime.  It was just like the old days, and they were both happier than they'd been for ages.  </p><p>The full moon fell on Christmas Day that year, so Remus’s parents expected him to stay at school.  It wasn’t that they were unkind, as Remus pointed out to his friends; just that it was hard to explain to all the relatives gathered for Christmas why their son had to be locked in the specially-reinforced shed from dusk on Christmas Day until sunrise on Boxing Day.  </p><p>James was going home, as usual, moon or no moon.  This year, the Potters had invited Sirius but they had a big, family Christmas and he didn’t want to intrude.  Of course, James begged him and told him he was a part of the family, but Sirius replied that Remus needed at least one of them there.  And Peter’s mother was on her own, so Peter always went home for holidays.</p><p>In a way, Sirius was grateful for the moon, because it gave him an excuse to spend at least part of the holidays at school, rather than spend Christmas alone in his flat, a prospect that rather daunted him when he thought about it.  This would be his first Christmas without either friends or family.</p><p>Well, he and Remus would be here.  And when he thought about it, Sirius saw no reason why Remus should have to spend the whole of the holiday at school.  He was of age; he could go and stay with Sirius, who had his own place, and Professor Dumbledore would no doubt agree to it if they asked politely.</p><p>He discussed it with Remus, of course.  Remus was actually a bit pissed-off with his parents, and had been happy to spend the holidays at Hogwarts.  But obviously, the thought of a week in Muggle London hanging round the clubs and pubs appealed to him.</p><p>‘Anyway, I’m seventeen, so they can’t make me stay anywhere I don’t want to.’</p><p>It was duly arranged, and late on Boxing Day, when Remus was allowed out of the Hospital Wing, he and Sirius Portkeyed to the flat.</p><p>Remus had been there before, with the others, but never on his own.  At that time, it had been small and crowded, and now it was still small, but a lot emptier.  Very empty.  Sirius had owned a sofa at one point, but he and James jumped on it to see if the springs would hold out, and they hadn’t.  Sadly, it had broken beyond the reach of magic, so the small sitting room held only a table and an ancient armchair, set off by a beautiful, ornate Victorian fireplace.</p><p>Sirius was worried that Remus wasn’t quite recovered from the moon: it hadn’t been too bad, but with only Padfoot to help and the long December night, Remus didn’t have that easy a time.  In fact, Sirius suspected he was still groggy, and could do with few hours’ sleep before they hit London.  Sirius thought he could do with a few hours’ sleep himself.</p><p>He hadn't actually forgotten there was only one bedroom in the flat, and one single bed.  But it hadn't occured to him until that moment that the sleeping arrangements might be a problem.</p><p>‘Look, you go and lie down, Moony.’  Suddenly anxious, he checked that the bedroom was reasonably tidy, and he hadn’t left too many clothes strewn about the place.  Not that Remus would mind: they’d shared a dorm for nearly seven years now. And he did know that the sheets were reasonably clean at least.  </p><p>The only other furniture in the room was a pine chest of drawers that the Potters had given him, so if they went out the next day to buy a sleeping bag, he or Remus could sleep on the floor. Or in an emergency, one of them could sleep in the huge, claw-footed bath.</p><p>Remus was staggering on his feet, so Sirius steered him to the bed, where he lay down and promptly crashed out. Sirius lay down on the bed for a minute too, and woke up several hours later in the dark, pressed very close to Remus.</p><p>It struck him that this would be an excellent time for them to find out whether doing things with someone else would be the same as doing it themselves.  Of course, with two boys it wasn’t going to be that different, but it would be interesting to see how it felt having someone else touch you.</p><p>Sirius never shied away from an impulse.  He shook Remus awake.   Remus was still a bit out of it, but as he was a guy, and guys could be straightforward with each other, and Sirius didn’t have to promise him hearts and flowers or love, he said, ‘Hey, I was thinking about the other week.  When you said doing it yourself was just as good as shagging, and I said you were wrong. Would you like to try it with me, to see what it’s like?’</p><p>‘What, shagging?’ asked Remus, puzzled.</p><p>‘No, we should keep it simple. Just get each other off, see it’s any different from usual.’</p><p>‘’Kay,’ Remus said, yawning hugely.  Sirius hoped he understood what he’d agreed to.  At any rate, he seemed to be as eager to get off as Sirius was.</p><p>And he also knew what to do with his hands, Sirius thought.  Moony had nice hands, he supposed – he didn’t generally notice other boys’ hands – and they felt good as well.  His long, competent fingers stroked and teased and put just the right amount of pressure, and Sirius found that it was not at all the same as doing it himself, but slower, more intense, and somehow infinitely more exciting.</p><p>And he had to admit that it felt exciting touching Remus as well: he tried to match Remus’s rhythm, keeping it slow and languorous, but he soon found himself getting carried away.</p><p>‘That was definitely better,’ he said afterwards.  ‘It was different, too.  Maybe we’re both underestimating this whole shagging thing.’</p><p>Remus seemed slightly shell-shocked, Sirius thought.  ‘Yeah, you were right.  That was really something else.  P’raps we should find a couple of girls to try out the real thing with.’</p><p>Sirius felt a bit disappointed in Remus, for some reason.  ‘Well, you have to get them there first.  If you feel up to forming – ’ he put on a falsetto voice ‘ – a <i>meaningful relationship</i>, then good luck to you, mate.’</p><p>‘There is that,’ Remus said, and laughed.  ‘I’m not going to ask if you still respect me, for a start.’</p><p>Sirius grinned.  ‘And I won’t have hysterics because you’re not in love with me.’</p><p>Still, when they next woke, Sirius found that somehow his arms had crept round Remus in the night.  He figured that was because the bed was so small it was the only way to stop himself falling out.  He disentangled himself from the still-sleeping Remus, though, and got up to dress.  </p><p>*</p><p>There was nothing in the flat for breakfast, so when they were both ready they made a trip to the supermarket on the next block.  Sirius had got accustomed to Muggle food-shopping now, and impressed Remus with his knowledge of where everything was.  ‘Except they sometimes change it all round, and you can’t find a bloody thing, and it’s really frustrating,’ he said.</p><p>Remus got very, very excited by the confectionary shelves.  He was like a little kid sometimes, Sirius thought fondly.  He impulsively put his arm round Remus and gave him a quick, affectionate hug.  ‘You’re not going to eat sweets for breakfast, are you, Moony? I was planning on showing you how well I can scramble eggs.’</p><p>‘Just one bag?  Look, there’s treacle toffee!  I haven’t eaten that since…forever.  Okay, Honeydukes is the best, but sometimes the Muggle sweets are good, for a change.’</p><p>Sirius slipped three bags of sweets into the trolley, and followed Remus as he strode ahead, stopping occasionally to gawk at some new marvel.  ‘Hey, Padfoot, they sell these ready-made meals.  All you have to do is heat them up with your wand!’</p><p>An elderly couple stopped dead and stared at them, and Remus went red and turned away, as Sirius stifled an undignified fit of giggles.  </p><p>As they walked home, it started to snow.  Remus was enchanted, but Sirius groaned.  ‘Damn. We won’t be able to do anything if it carries on.  I wanted to take you round London on the top of a bus.’</p><p>‘It’ll probably stop later.  Come on, hurry up, Sirius, I’m starving.’</p><p>But the snow didn’t let up.  Sirius made some pretty good scrambled eggs, even if he said it himself, and strong coffee, and lit a fire in the beautiful fireplace.  Outside, it started to blizzard.</p><p>Sirius dragged the single armchair in front of the fireplace, and insisted that Remus have it.  ‘I’ll sit on the floor, Moony.  It’s no big deal.’</p><p>The floor was bare board, with just the skimpiest of hearthrugs, which Sirius had inherited from the former owner.  Remus insisted that Sirius take the chair, and they argued back and forth for a while until Sirius, exasperated, said, ‘Okay, okay, we’ll share!  If we can sleep together in that bed we can share the bloody chair, right?’</p><p>It was a big, sagging chair, and they had to shift to get comfortable, but Sirius found it was quite pleasant sitting so close to Remus in front of a blazing fire.  He wondered whether it was because of their bonding activities last night that he felt very turned on again.  He remembered a proverb his French nurse had recited frequently, something about appetite coming with eating.  Perhaps getting off with someone else could be addictive. At any rate, he wanted to get as close to Remus as he could, to try and ease the ache that seemed to be spreading through his whole body.  Acting on impulse again, he twisted round and took Remus’s face in his, and angled his mouth so he was kissing Remus’s lips.</p><p>It wasn’t like kissing a girl - no synthetic smells or tastes, no smooth skin. Remus wasn’t exactly stubbly, but he didn’t have a girl’s silkiness either.  Melanie had been soggy and grasping; Remus, taken by surprise, kept his mouth closed, while his eyes were wide open and slightly panicked.  Sirius, inexplicably hurt, moved back and attempted a laugh.</p><p>Remus was instantly contrite.  ‘I’m sorry, Sirius!  I just freaked out a bit.  I don’t like kissing much,’ he confided.</p><p>‘But you said you’d kissed Cassie, didn’t you?‘</p><p>‘Yes, but...  It wasn’t very good.  It didn’t do anything for me.’</p><p>‘Well, I’m not Cassie,’ Sirius pointed out.  ‘Trust me.  Come on, put your arms around me...that’s right.’  He drew Remus towards him again, and this time Remus didn’t flinch and they kissed properly.  </p><p>Remus definitely seemed to like it better once he'd opened his mouth and started to respond fully, and it obviously had as much effect on him as it did on Sirius.  They messed around a bit more like they had the night before, and ended up lying on the skimpy hearthrug by the fire without many clothes on. It should have been horribly uncomfortable, but somehow it wasn’t.</p><p>Remus looked at Sirius with shining eyes. ‘Wow.  I never knew kissing could be like that.’ He then added, with a touch of irony in his voice, ‘All this bonding stuff we’ve been missing out on for years. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if James or Pete decided to Floo in?’</p><p>Sirius thought it would, and he thought it was good to lie there laughing with Remus, their legs tangled together, the very best of friends.  </p><p>*</p><p>They managed a few London activities once the snow had abated a bit.  Sirius had been to many clubs and pubs on his own, and very occasionally with James, but it was more fun trying to look at London through Moony’s eyes.  He liked being seen with Remus, who had a self-contained, reserved air when you didn’t know him.  He liked sitting in pubs chatting to the girls who’d mysteriously appear at the table with him and Remus, complete with drinks, and wonder what they’d say if they could have seen him and Remus that morning, kissing each other deeply, clinging together like they would never let go, and all without strings, or any girly talk or stupid lovey-dovey stuff.</p><p>At one club, greatly daring, Sirius asked Remus to dance.  Well, it wasn’t that daring; quite a few girls were dancing together just for the hell of it, because no guys were asking them.  Girls were beginning to get quite forward these days, Sirius mused, but not for long, because Remus grinned and said, ‘Okay’, and they swayed together a bit clumsily on the crowded dance floor to the strains of <i>Hotel California</i>, which wasn’t exactly the latest Muggle hit, but seemed to be the only song most of the DJs knew.  Later, lying in the narrow bed in Sirius’s flat, watching car headlights streaming past through the thin curtains, they agreed they were having a brilliant time, and that they should have added sex to their friendship long ago.</p><p>‘It would be great to have real sex too,’ Sirius said, and Remus, slightly to his surprise, said, ‘We should try it.  Just to see how different it would be from the stuff we're already doing.’</p><p>'Tomorrow,' Sirius said, yawning, and they went to sleep.</p><p>As it turned out, both of them eventually had to admit that perhaps sex was the one thing that might be simpler with girls. Though neither of them knew anything beyond the basic mechanics – it seemed virtually impossible to find a guide – they worked out by trial and rather painful error that boys needed additional help, in the form of tubes of lubricant that they purchased in the afternoon at the big Boots in Regent Street.  Sirius thought the salesgirl looked at them a bit oddly, but he didn’t care.  He even took Remus’s hand briefly as they left the shop, and they grinned at each other.</p><p>Back at the flat, they agreed that Sirius should go first. ‘But you must let me know at once if it hurts, Moony, and I’ll stop.’ </p><p>‘Don’t worry, Padfoot,’ Remus said. 'It'll be fine.'</p><p>And it was.  It was awkward and messy, and Sirius was sure he felt Remus flinch a couple of times, though he tried to be as gentle as possible.  But it was also amazing and glorious, and as soon as he’d finished, Sirius couldn’t wait for Remus to have a go. ‘You won’t believe how fantastic it is,’ he rhapsodised, hugging Remus close and nuzzling his neck.</p><p>It was also quite painful at first, even with the lubricant, Sirius found a while later, and a bit uncomfortable, but then it was fantastic again, though perhaps not quite as fantastic as being on top.  Still, it was only fair to take turns. They weren’t stupid girls, who’d sulk and make a fuss about it.</p><p>Remus agreed it was brilliant; and Sirius noticed that he didn’t suggest they should now try out their newfound skills on girls.  Instead, they spent the rest of the day and the next morning practising with each other, only emerging from the bedroom, sore but sated, an hour before the Hogwarts Express was due to leave.</p><p>‘I wish we didn't have to go back yet,’ Remus said wistfully, as they set out for King’s Cross.</p><p>‘So do I,’ said Sirius. ‘But we’ll come to London again at Easter, won’t we?'</p><p>*</p><p>Back at school, Sirius and Remus continued their bonding activities, as far as they could.  It was surprisingly frustrating, Sirius found, not being able to lay a casual hand on Remus’s knee any time he liked, or give him a hug or put an arm around him as he sat and read or gazed into the fire or lifted a pint of Muggle beer to his mouth.  Sirius hadn’t actually realised until then how used they had got to touching each other during their brief time in London. On the plus side, it was easier than Sirius had anticipated to sneak away to an unlocked storeroom or the Shack, or even use silencing spells in the dorm at night.</p><p>Of course, there were still girls at Hogwarts in the New Year, and they were as pretty as ever: prettier, even, as many of them had received beautifying potions for Christmas.   </p><p>James felt it was time for Sirius to renew his reputation as a womaniser, and got Lily to set Sirius up with a couple of dates.  Sirius chatted up a pretty Hufflepuff in a desultory fashion, and even went out with her once or twice, because he didn’t want to disappoint James.  Both times, he cut the date short so that he could go up to the library and see how Remus was doing with homework.  They were paired together in several NEWTs classes, anyway, and he was meant to be Moony’s friend: he couldn’t leave him alone with a mountain of work they were supposed to complete together.</p><p>‘What about you, Moony?  Seen any girls you fancy?’ Sirius would ask occasionally, clapping Remus on the back, though of course he knew the answer.</p><p>‘You know how it is, Padfoot.  I don’t want to lead anyone on,’ Remus would say, gazing up at Sirius with his hazel eyes.  Sirius thought that he probably shouldn’t be noticing what Remus’s eyes were like – it seemed an awfully girly thing to do – but hell, they were nice eyes.  And he liked the way they lit up when Sirius touched him, and they way they scrunched up when Remus came, and the way they closed just before he and Sirius kissed.  It was good, too, that even with all the sex they were having, nothing had changed between them: their friendship was stronger than ever.</p><p>Yes, it was working out well, Sirius often thought to himself.  No gushing, no gooiness, just two boys together, doing things in a pleasant, unsentimental way, getting off with the minimum of fuss and bother.  He sat in Divination watching Remus casting Mary Dougall’s rune stones, and was glad that he didn’t feel stupid things like jealousy, and wasn’t wishing that Remus could be telling <i>his</i> fortune instead. </p><p>Anyway, when Remus glanced up, it was always Sirius he looked at, and Sirius was able to smile reassuringly at him and mouth ‘Later.’  Remus would lower his eyes for a moment and blush slightly, which was rather sweet, Sirius decided.  It made his heart beat faster, sometimes, when Remus did that, and occasionally his palms went clammy too.  He was getting a bit soppy, really, he sometimes worried, but as long as Remus had no complaints, he supposed it didn’t matter.</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>End</b>
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